Grasping Straws?

The deck

All 48 cards, grouped by suit. Reading them straight through is a different thing from drawing one — the deck works because it picks, not you. Consider this the contents of the box rather than a menu.

lateral18 cards

For when the approach itself is the problem.

  1. 1Solve the wrong problem beautifully.
  2. 2Remove the part you rehearsed.
  3. 3Do the last step first.
  4. 4Halve it. Then halve the half.
  5. 5Make the transition the destination.
  6. 6Let the accident audition.
  7. 7Give the mistake a name and a job.
  8. 8Which rule are you obeying without being asked?
  9. 9Trade your best idea for your strangest one.
  10. 10Work at the speed of boredom.
  11. 11Copy the structure; betray the content.
  12. 12End earlier than feels safe.
  13. 13Abandon symmetry mid-gesture.
  14. 14Describe it to someone who cannot see it. Build what you said.
  15. 15Make it hospitable to strangers.
  16. 16What would this be at four in the morning?
  17. 17Finish it badly, then defend the flaw.
  18. 18Ask the least qualified person in the room. That may be you.

sound10 cards

For work you listen to.

  1. 19Tune to the room, not the chart.
  2. 20Play the chord you can’t name.
  3. 21Voice it in two notes.
  4. 22Detune one string; keep the fingering.
  5. 23Let the drums lie about the tempo.
  6. 24The overtone is the melody.
  7. 25Treat the amp as the instrument.
  8. 26Record the rehearsal. Discard the take.
  9. 27What is the silence doing?
  10. 28Turn one element to zero. Notice what remains.

image8 cards

For work you look at.

  1. 29Hold the shot until it confesses.
  2. 30Weather is a character. Cast it.
  3. 31Cut on the breath, not the action.
  4. 32Let the location rewrite the scene.
  5. 33Show the aftermath; imply the event.
  6. 34Water, smoke, or dust: choose one witness.
  7. 35Light it for the room it used to be.
  8. 36The frame is a door. Which way does it open?

language6 cards

For work made of words.

  1. 37Write the footnote first.
  2. 38Steal the syntax of a prayer.
  3. 39Say it once. Trust the echo.
  4. 40Translate it into plain speech; keep the ghost.
  5. 41Delete every sentence you’re proud of. Read what’s left.
  6. 42Let a minor character narrate.

threshold6 cards

For starting, and for stopping.

  1. 43The obstacle is the initiation.
  2. 44Descend, retrieve, return. You are on the wrong step.
  3. 45Read it as a cipher for something kind.
  4. 46What would the older tradition call this?
  5. 47Consult the dream, then disobey it.
  6. 48Cross the threshold facing backward.

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